EDITORS:
The following story will move Saturday as this week's Sunday Spotlight, a feature showcasing the best off-the-news enterprise in the AP report:
ECONOMY-DEFLATION -- Many Americans are in a sour mood about the economy for one main reason: Prices feel too high, even though inflation has cooled. Wouldn't it be great if average prices fell? Yet falling prices across the economy would actually be an unhealthy sign. Falling prices - called "deflation" - typically make people delay spending. Why buy now, after all, if you can purchase the things you want at even lower prices months from now? Collectively, such delays tend to weaken consumer spending, which drives about 70% of U.S. economic activity. Deflation also tends to hold down wages and to make the inflation-adjusted cost of a loan more expensive for borrowers. By Paul Wiseman. UPCOMING: 1,000 words, photos, by 9 a.m.
-- The AP
